Forbes Media LLC is in exclusive discussions with an investor group that could put the magazine publisher in the hands of a new owner.
The interested buyer is a consortium of family offices and foreign investors “that is strategically aligned with the Forbes executive team and our goals for growing the company,” Forbes spokesman Bill Hankes said in an email.
Forbes, which features millennial-focused wealth tips and “30 Under 30” lists, entered exclusive talks last year to be acquired by a group led by Michael Moe’s GSV Asset Management, Bloomberg News reported at the time. A transaction could have valued the company at more than $600 million, Bloomberg reported.
Those talks went cold when the publisher sought to go public through a merger with the black-check firm Magnum Opus Acquisition Ltd. Axios later reported that acquisition talks with GSV had resumed and were slated to close in the first quarter of this year.
“The continued investment interest we’ve seen in our company is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit, hard work, and results that our team consistently delivers,” Hankes said. But its remains unclear if any deal at current juncture would result in a partial or full sale.
Forbes competes with Bloomberg News and parent Bloomberg LP in tracking the wealth of billionaires across the globe and providing financial information. Forbes’s most recent acquisition discussions were reported earlier by the New York Times.
